Category: Sporting KC

Sporting Kansas City (10-4-4, 34 points) moved into sole possession of first place in the Western Conference following a 0-0 draw against the Colorado Rapids (8-4-4, 28 points) on Saturday night at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City, Colorado.

Goalkeeper Tim Melia had three saves en route to his third shutout of the season, snapping Colorado’s streak of 32 straight MLS home matches with a goal.

Sporting’s first goalless draw in the regular season moves the club one point clear of second-place Seattle Sounders FC in the West and just three points behind the New England Revolution in the Supporters’ Shield race.

Navigating a congested run of seven matches in 22 days, Sporting Kansas City deployed a reshuffled starting XI headlined by an MLS debut for forward Grayson Barber and the first start of the season for fellow Clemson alum Amadou Dia.

Sporting KC Academy product Wilson Harris joined Harris in attack and center back Roberto Puncec earned his first appearance since May 9 as manager Peter Vermes changed his signature 4-3-3 formation with a 3-5-2 setup.

The visitors spent extended periods of the first half extinguishing Colorado pressure with Nicolas Isimat-Mirin serving as the backline anchor. He recovered and made a sliding block on Michael Barrios’ strike inside the penalty area in the sixth minute. Barrios almost opened the scoring near the half-hour mark, but his chip shot carried inches over the bar as Melia rushed off his line.

Barber and Harris asked questions of the Colorado defense in the 26th minute when the former cut the ball back to the latter, but the ensuing shot was blocked through traffic.

Shortly thereafter, Barber galloped forward on a counterattack and fired high from 22 yards.

At the opposite end, Colorado’s Mark-Anthony Kaye stretched to put a shot on frame that Melia collected confidently in the 37th minute.

After Sporting midfielder Remi Walter’s blistering 30-yard drive flashed narrowly wide, Melia bailed his team out with a stunning kick save on the cusp of intermission to deny Colorado captain Jack Price and keep the game scoreless.

Vermes’ men returned to their familiar 4-3-3 formation at the start of the second half as Luis Martins replaced Dia and Cam Duke entered for Puncec.

Another reinforcement came in the form of Mexican international striker Alan Pulido, who relieved Harris in the 59th minute. Sporting’s depth was flexed further two minutes later as Isimat-Mirin was forced to exit with an injury, prompting the introduction of Academy product Kaveh Rad.

Pulido went agonizingly close to firing Sporting ahead in the 66th minute, racing onto an excellent diagonal ball from Gadi Kinda and unleashing a side-footed effort that deflected off Colorado defender Lalas Abubakar and nestled a fraction wide into the side netting.

Sporting breathed a huge sigh of relief in the 73rd minute when Melia applied the slightest of touches on a close-range attempt from Colorado substitute Jonathan Lewis after the U.S. international had latched onto a teasing Cole Bassett cross.

Melia’s sublime performance was further punctuated in the 75th minute when he conjured a terrific reflex save to thwart former Sporting striker Diego Rubio, who had planted a strong header goalward off Price’s corner kick.

Sporting continued to defend resolutely and although Rubio was on the receiving end of another big chance in the 92nd minute, he was unable to steer his header on target after Bassett unfurled another probing delivery into the box.

With a hard-fought road result in the rearview mirror, Sporting will now switch gears in preparation for a highly anticipated Leagues Cup quarterfinal clash with LIGA MX powerhouse Club Leon on Tuesday at Children’s Mercy Park in Kansas City, Kansas.

Tickets for the 7 p.m. showdown are available at SeatGeek.com and the match will air live nationally on ESPN2 and TUDN.

• Story from Sporting KC

Two of the top four teams in the Western Conference will renew their longstanding Western Conference rivalry on Saturday night as first-place Sporting Kansas City (10-4-3, 33 points) visits the fourth-place Colorado Rapids (8-4-3, 27 points) in an 8 p.m. kickoff at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City, Colorado.

Bally Sports Kansas City Plus, Bally Sports Midwest Plus, BallySports.com and the Bally Sports app will air three hours of live coverage beginning at 7:30 p.m. Listeners can catch the action locally on Sports Radio 810 WHB (English) and La Grande 1340 AM (Spanish), while the Sporting KC app will provide additional in-game updates.

Sporting vaulted to the Western Conference summit with an emphatic 4-1 hammering of LAFC at a shell-shocked Banc of California Stadium on Wednesday.

Alan Pulido marked his return from the Mexican national team with an opportunistic strike, Luis Martins opened his MLS scoring account, red-hot Daniel Salloi bagged a stunner and Gadi Kinda converted a brilliant header as Sporting handed LAFC its heaviest home defeat in club history and gave manager Peter Vermes his 200th coaching win at the helm.

In a trend that stretches back to the start of 2020, Sporting have developed a habit of winning away from home. Vermes’ men have five regular season road victories in 2021 and 10 over the last two years, both the most in MLS.

Sporting has won its last three away games by defeating second-place Seattle, third-place LA Galaxy and fifth-place LAFC. Sporting will look to add the fourth-place Rapids to that list on Saturday night.

Salloi is in the midst of his greatest MLS season to date and leads the league with 15 combined goals (10) and assists (five). With Salloi’s goal and assist against LAFC on Wednesday, Sporting KC Academy products have now scored or assisted in a remarkable 12 straight MLS matches dating back to May 16. The club’s talented homegrown contingent has accounted for 16 of 33 goals and 11 of 29 assists for the highest-scoring attack in MLS this season.

Sporting’s offense received another shot in the arm earlier this week when Pulido, who missed a month of action due to Mexican national team commitments during the Gold Cup, punctuated his return with the opening goal versus LAFC. The 30-year-old has 13 goals and six assists in 20 MLS starts over the last two seasons.

Rapids head coach Robin Fraser has worked wonders since taking the helm in May 2019. Once a perennial cellar dweller in the West, Colorado returned to the playoffs in 2020 and boasts a 21-12-7 regular season record since Fraser was appointed. The Rapids are 5-0-2 in the last seven home matches at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park, scoring 15 goals and conceding five.

Colorado midfielders Jack Price and Michael Barrios are tied for second in MLS with three game-winning assists each, while goalkeeper William Yarbrough ranks second in MLS in shutouts (seven) and goalkeeping wins (eight). Defenders Auston Trusty and Keegan Rosenberry have also been ever-present fixtures for a team that sits six points back of Sporting with two games in hand.

Sporting and Colorado made headlines this week as each club transferred a rising star to Europe. Sporting’s 19-year-old Gianluca Busio, who helped the United States Men’s National Team to the Gold Cup title last weekend, completed his move to Italian Serie A side Venezia FC on Thursday. He has recorded eight goals and nine assists in 70 appearances for the club as one of the top teenagers in American soccer.

On the Colorado sideline, left back Sam Vines joined Busio on the U.S. MNT’s Gold Cup-winning squad and signed for Royal Antwerp in Belgium earlier this week. The 22-year-old has started 49 of 54 MLS appearances since debuting in 2018.

Sporting will have multiple absences to atone for this weekend. Ilie Sanchez (caution accumulation), Felipe Hernandez (personal reasons) and Khiry Shelton (abdomen) are ruled out, while Cam Duke (hamstring) is listed as questionable. Colorado, meanwhile, has just one player unavailable as playmaker Younes Namli continues to recover from a long-term ankle injury.

• Story from Sporting KC

Sporting Kansas City (10-4-3, 33 points) vaulted to the summit of the Western Conference with a 4-1 victory over LAFC (6-6-5, 23 points) on Wednesday night at Banc of California Stadium in Los Angeles.

Alan Pulido, Luis Martins and Daniel Salloi struck during a dazzling first-half display before Gadi Kinda added a fourth goal in the second half as Sporting drew level on points with Seattle Sounders FC and claimed first place by virtue of the wins tiebreaker.

LAFC salvaged a late consolation goal through Danny Musovski but sustained its heaviest home defeat in the club’s four-year history.

Wednesday’s result gave manager Peter Vermes his 200th coaching win for Sporting in all competitions as his team improved to 4-1-0 on the West Coast this season.

Boasting a league-best five road victories in 2021, Sporting will look to continue its winning ways Saturday when it visits the fourth-place Colorado Rapids (8-4-3, 27 points) in a compelling Western Conference clash at 8 p.m. Supporters can catch the action live on Bally Sports Kansas City Plus, Bally Sports Midwest Plus, BallySports.com and the Bally Sports app as well as Sports Radio 810 WHB and La Grande 1340 AM.

With his team kickstarting a busy run of six matches in 18 days, Vermes made two changes to the starting lineup from Saturday’s 2-1 home loss to FC Dallas. Midfielder Ilie Sanchez stepped in for Roger Espinoza and Pulido — returning to the club after a monthlong Concacaf Gold Cup stint with the Mexico Men’s National Team — replaced captain Johnny Russell.

In the 20th minute, right back Graham Zusi sent a thumping long ball over the top for Khiry Shelton to chase. LAFC goalkeeper Tomas Romero raced off his line in an attempt to punch clear, but Shelton beat him to it and suffered a full body blow from Romero in the process.

Pulido scooped up the loose ball and calmly slotted past retreating defender Tristan Blackmon and into the empty net, notching his seventh goal of the season and his second against LAFC after scoring in Sporting’s 2-1 home win on June 26.

High on momentum, Sporting landed another haymaker in the 28th minute when Martins bagged his first career MLS goal. The left back ignited the scoring play with a probing run into the central channel before spreading it left to Daniel Salloi, who was announced as an MLS All-Star on Wednesday afternoon.

The 25-year-old juked his way down the left endline and pulled a pass back for Martins, who tucked an excellent finish into the right corner. Sporting KC Academy products have now scored or assisted in 12 straight MLS matches dating back to May 16.

A stunning first half saw Sporting reach dreamland in the 36th minute with a strike from the red-hot Salloi.

Zusi embarked on an overlapping run down the right wing, received a pass from Shelton and fizzed a low cross to Salloi, whose first-touch bullet nestled just inside the near post with pinpoint precision. Zusi now has assists in three straight regular season matches for the first time since August 2012, while Salloi leads MLS with 15 combined goals (10) and primary assists (five).

The teams traded chances on the cusp of intermission, with LAFC wingback Raheem Edwards smashing a shot off the post and Pulido curling inches wide from 20 yards after settling a pass from Kinda.

Sporting’s 3-0 advantage at halftime marked the fifth time ever that the club has scored three goals in the first half of a regular season road game. Furthermore, LAFC faced its first three-goal halftime deficit in club history, having entered MLS as an expansion side in 2018.

After suffering a series of fatal Sporting blows, LAFC were eager to atone after the restart. Kim Moon-Hwan did well to set up Diego Rossi in the 51st minute, but the reigning MLS Golden Boot winner lifted his open shot over the crossbar. Shortly thereafter, Jose Cifuentes drilled a venomous blast marginally wide from 20 yards.

Any impetus LAFC gained at the start of the second half was promptly extinguished near the hour mark as Sporting expanded its lead. Zusi was afforded space on the right flank and delivered an inch-perfect cross into the penalty area, where Kinda floated between a pair of LAFC defenders to nod an excellent header past the helpless Romero for his fourth goal of the campaign.

Zusi tabbed his 70th career regular season assist on the play as Sporting became the first LAFC opponent to score four goals in a road match at Banc of California Stadium.

The hosts endured further frustration in the 74th minute. After Sporting defender Nicolas Isimat-Mirin performed an acrobatic clearance off a teasing cross, 2019 MLS MVP Carlos Vela unleashed a bicycle kick that screamed inches high. Vela, who entered the night with goals in four straight games, spurned another opportunity in the dying embers by dragging a left-footed effort wide at close range.

After their first 16 shot attempts failed to test Sporting goalkeeper Tim Melia, LAFC finally put one on target in the 82nd minute as Musovski ran onto Diego Palacios’ through ball and slotted low to make the score 4-1. Musovski could have added to his total in the 89th minute, chesting down a diagonal pass from Mamadou Fall only to see his lobbed shot float a foot over the woodwork.

LAFC thought it had won a penalty kick in second-half stoppage time when referee Alan Kelly pointed to the spot after Andreu Fontas tripped Fall on the edge of the box. VAR intervened, however, and deemed the foul to have taken place outside of the penalty area. Vela’s ensuing free kick missed the target.

• Story from Sporting KC